A BIRMINGHAM councillor has been accused of turning up drunk to a public meeting.

Coun Victoria Quinn, the girlfriend of city Labour Party leader Sir Albert Bore, was said by fellow councillor Martin Mullaney to have been tipsy at a Hall Green constituency meeting on Tuesday night.

The Labour Sparkbrook representative, a Birmingham City Council member for just four months, was also heard to swear by a Birmingham Mail reporter covering the meeting, which was attended by schoolchildren.

THE man behind the high speed rail plan has suggested the city’s airport should rename itself London-Birmingham.

Professor Andrew McNaughton, chief engineer for the rail project known as High Speed Two (HS2), said the line would be the catalyst for a new settlement between Birmingham and Coventry.

He predicted that Birmingham Airport, which will be next to a planned new HS2 station, would rename itself London-Birmingham, it would be closer to central London in journey times than Stansted or Gatwick.